Tag: Satire

  • X. Dir. Ti West. A24. 2022

    X. Dir. Ti West. A24. 2022

    Alligators and Pornstars Ti West’s 2022 horror film, X, follows a group of adult-filmmakers in their endeavour to create ‘a good dirty movie,’ in spite of the looming persecution of their Bible Belt location. In this scene, central protagonist and self-proclaimed star Maxine swims nude in a bayou and, unbeknownst to her, is stalked by…

  • Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!. Dir. By. Peter Lord. Columbia Pictures. 2012.

    Aardman never shy away from the ludicrous. So when a crew of incompetent pirates endeavour for protagonist The Pirate Captain to win the Pirate of the Year Award by relying on the commercial value of his prized dodo companion Polly (who should have been extinct for 150 years and is believed to be a parrot)…

  • Surf’s Up. Dir. Ash Brannon & Chris Buck. Columbia Pictures. 2007.

    Surf’s Up. Dir. Ash Brannon & Chris Buck. Columbia Pictures. 2007.

    Released in 2007, during the surge of penguin movies, Surf’s Up is a unique animated mockumentary exploring how penguins are the ‘real’ inventors of the worldwide sport, surfing. A documentary crew (ironically, Brannon and Buck cast themselves) follow the journey of Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), a Rockhopper penguin from Antarctica who dreams of becoming a…

  • Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay, 2021, Netflix

    “You’re going to die! You’re going to die!” Through a plot that follows the fight for a response to humanity’s impending doom when a comet is discovered to be heading for Earth, the message of Don’t Look Up is clear: unless those with power start listening to those calling for action against global disasters –…

  • Jojo Rabbit. Dir. Taika Waititi. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2019.

    Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit embodies the toxicity of hegemonic masculinity in Nazi Germany, utilising the rabbit ‘as a material and symbolic resource.’[1]. Waititi’s decision to navigate the film through the eyes of ten-year-old Jojo is significant, as Jojo’s own conflicted sense of masculinity is underscored through the rabbit as a symbol of gender, as his…

  • The Lion King. Dir. Jon Favreau. Walt Disney Pictures and Fairview Entertainment. 2019.

    ‘There’s a stampede, in the pride lands’, Zazu’s memorable line is word-for-word identical to the 1994 animation. But where the animation focused on a simple plot, Jon Favreau’s recreation with CGI animals creates depth by building more of the animals’ characterisation into the story, I will question how this creates problems with humanising certain animals…

  • The Simpsons Movie. Dir. David Silverman. 20th Century Fox. 2007.

    Why does everything I whip leave me? – Homer Simpson, The Simpsons Movie The Simpsons Movie is characterised by imprisonment vs agency – the central plot revolves around the incarceration of the town of Springfield using a giant glass dome as a punishment for environmental damage – therefore it seems only right to extend the…

  • Jojo Rabbit. Dir. Taika Waititi. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2019.

    Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi, 2019) follows a young German boy growing up during World War Two. During a sequence depicting Jojo’s education, a rabbit is used as a symbol of morality to train a group of Hitler Youth. The children unanimously agree that they would kill for Germany – this is then put to the…

  • Sorry to Bother You. Dir. Boots Riley. Annapurna Pictures. 2018.

    Boots Riley’s debut feature has been praised for its portrayal of the callous nature of capitalism in modern America. The overarching message throughout is that the efficiency of the labourer is paramount to economic success and is valued more than human life, with this ideology being brought to life with the Equisapians, a half-human/half-horse hybrid,…

  • Mon Oncle . Dir. Jacques Tati. Gaumont (France), Continental Distributing (USA). 1958.

    The release of Mon Oncle (Gaumont, France) in 1958 saw the return of Monsieur Hulot to cinema screens, following the successful Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot five years previously. The first of Tati’s films to be released in colour, the film follows the character of Hulot (Jacques Tati), an awkward but incredibly endearing man, and…